Perspective
by Purpwithapen
Summary: Two worlds collide in ways neither expected. She was just an innocent in an evil plot. Or was she? Can she save her family in time? Can the blonde SRU officer be trusted to help her or will they both die? Set in Season 2 after Lou dies, Sam and Jules are not dating.
1. Chapter 1

**AN : Just one of those muse things! This will be a short story, no more than 5 chapters. Please review. I love to read your comments good or bad. This is set after Lou dies, Jules and Sam are not dating. Enjoy!**

##### her perspective 1300 hours (1pm) #####

Her chest was heaving. How did she get herself into this damned mess, she asked herself for the umpteenth time today. Oh god, how could she get out of this? The blonde man was trying to talk to her, he said he wanted to help her, but how was he going to help? He couldn't, she was going to die if she didn't get out of this bank in the next fifteen minutes.

She looked to the exits again, her heartbeat kicking up when she saw three people in tactical gear near the front. Shit. Her eyes darted back to the blonde when he said her name. "How do you know my name?" She frowned. Dammit. I'm screwed.

"It's what we do. We like to know who we're talking to." The blonde said calmly even though she had a knife pointed towards him. It wasn't up which was good, that meant their sniper wouldn't have to shoot. "You don't look like you want to be here." He kept his hands up, showing her he wasn't a threat.

"Don't move." She growled. "I need out of here." She looked at the clock.

"Somewhere you have to be Sherry?" The blonde gained her gaze again.

"Just shh." She shushed him and looked towards the rear. She knew they'd probably have someone or several someone's at the back entrance, but that seemed like her best bet to get out of here. She looked at him and tried to convey her apologies with her eyes. "Stand up."

"Ok." He stood slowly and waited while she picked up the black backpack and slung it on her shoulder. "Boss." He whispered.

"What? Who're you-?" She frowned at him and pointed the knife to the side of his neck, but several inches away. She leaned to one side and seeing nothing leaned to the other. She grabbed the earpiece from his ear and put it on hers. "Listen, your officer and I are walking out of here. No funny business, nothing stopping us."

"I'd really like to try to help you Sherry." A caring male voice said over the headset. "Is there some reason you have to leave soon?"

"Yeah, I don't want to be shot." She said tearing up. Oh god, please don't let them shoot me, she thought. This is the only way. She put her free hand to her mouth and sniffed. She took a deep breath and motioned for the blonde to walk to her.

The blonde hesitated, but knew it was better to comply with a subject. He stepped forward and stood in front of her, waiting.

"We don't want to do that either Sherry. We want everyone to go home safe. How do we do that?" The voice in her ear said.

"Let us leave!" She yelled into the earpiece then grabbed the blonde's shirt and started walking towards the back door. "That's all I want. Once we're clear and no one tracks us, I'll let the officer go." When the blonde looked at her she ignored him. "Get me?"

##### 0730 hours (7:30am) #####

"Fabre! Let's go! Get your stuff and get out here!" Sherry yelled and looked through the doorway to her oldest son's room, a spatula in her hand. When her youngest son bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen she gave him an exasperated look. "Can you please go see what is keeping your brother?"

"Um, he's in a wheelchair?" Ian said sarcastically and walked towards his brother's room.

"Ian!" Sherry said in mock shock.

"Oh mom." Ian rolled his eyes, smiled and ran to Fabre's room. "Fabre! Mom says to get your lazy ass up!" He sing-songed.

"Language!" Sherry looked up, asking for strength. She smiled when her two middle children walked into the kitchen, side by side in matching outfits. "Well don't you two look cute?"

Kylie, older by a minute and a half, looked up with annoyance. "It's hot mom. We look hot."

"Yeah." Miley looked up from her iPod, rolled her eyes and went back to looking at the device.

"First of all, put the iPod's down for breakfast, you know the rules." Sherry waited while they reluctantly put the iPod's on the counter and climbed onto the stools in front of them. "And second of all, I will not be calling my daughters 'hot', especially not my ten year olds. You guys have been watching way too much of the E! Channel."

"No we haven't." Kylie shook her head. She loved watching the Kardashians. It was her favorite show, especially since she had the same name as one of them.

"Well, we'll talk about it tonight with daddy at dinner." Sherry scooped some eggs for each girl onto two plates, waited for the toast and then added a slice to each plate before setting them in front of the girls. She smiled when Fabre rolled out of his room. "You're gonna be late Fabe." She scolded as she made up two more plates.

"Just because I'm in a wheelchair doesn't mean I have to look like crap." Fabre said then used his atrophied hand to work the robotic hand attached to his wheelchair to scoop the eggs on the plate she just put down.

"Oh?" Sherry lifted a brow as she moved to the end of the island with a plate for her and Ian.

Fabre shook his head and concentrated on eating. It was something he did all the time, but it still took a lot of concentration.

Thirty minutes later, the kids were on their various buses to school and Sherry was alone. She loved her kids dearly, couldn't imagine her life without them, but she craved this time to herself. She went to the living room, laid on the couch and sighed. Ah, sweet silence, she thought. Feelings of guilt came next, but she pushed them away. She deserved to have this precious time to herself.

She stretched and lavished in it. After a few minutes her eyes fluttered closed. Suddenly, she was awakened by a hand over her mouth, stifling a scream. She tried to turn and look at the person, but they held her head in place. Lips brushed her ear and she tried to pull away.

"Sherry Crayson. Keep still and I won't kill you." He whispered. When she nodded slightly he continued. "You have a beautiful family Sherry. I'd hate for anything to happen to them, don't you agree?" Another nod. "Good. Now, close your eyes."

Sherry stayed very still.

"No? So which one is the first to go then? The oldest? Your precious, wheelchair bound little freak?" When she shook her head vehemently, he laughed. "I didn't think so. No, what about one of the twins? Or the baby? Little Ian? I know all about them, what they like, what they don't like. Their schedules."

"No." She said through his hand.

He landed a punch to her stomach. "Then you better do what I say!" He yelled in her ear. "Non-compliance will get them killed Sherry. I can go to Kylie's soccer game today and break her neck in the locker room. Now, time for lights out." He switched hands and waited while the chemical soaked rag put her to sleep. Once she was asleep, he went to work.

#####

Sherry opened her eyes groggily. She blinked several times, trying to get things to focus. Her stomach hurt where he punched her. A light turned on near her face, making it hard to see beyond it. "Who are you?" She asked the darkness. "What do you want with me?"

The darkness answered with laughter, deep and a little maniacal. "Look down."

She looked down and realized that she wasn't restrained, but something was wrong. She looked at all the wires, sticks of dynamite and in the middle, a timer. "Oh my god." She stood and turned, trying to look at the whole vest.

"Sit down." The voice said.

"Oh god." Sherry sunk back into the chair, put her head in her hands and started to sob. "Why?" She asked weakly. "Why me? I haven't done anything to anyone."

"Ooh, that's not true now is it?" The voice said eerily. "Doesn't matter right now. There is something I need you to do. You do the task and follow the rules, you and your family are free. No harm, no foul. But cross me, or break a rule and.. Boom."

"What do I have to do?" Sherry asked, resolve in her voice. She had no choice, he said he would harm her kids. He knew where they would be, he could hurt them.

"You have to rob the First Canadian Bank in Toronto and bring the money to me before 3pm today or I kill your children in front of you." When she whimpered he smiled and continued. "Rules: do not take the vest off. If you attempt to remove it, it will go off. I will be watching. If I see you trying to take it off or anyone else try to disarm it I will set it off. Do not contact the police. If you do, it blows and I kill your husband and children. I will also be listening. If you try to signal anyone, you and your family die. If you aren't at the rendezvous by 3pm, you all die. Do I make myself clear?"

Sherry nodded numbly. "Where is the rendezvous?"

A hand emerged from the dark and handed her a cell phone. He laughed at the look on her face. This was going perfectly. "Do not attempt to use this phone, if you do you die. I will call you and tell you the rendezvous point. You will leave this phone in the car when you go into the bank. Remember that I'm watching." He turned on a light over the door. "It is 10am. You have until 3 to get to the bank, get me 200 thousand dollars and get to the rendezvous point."

"Ok. What am I driving?" She asked as she hurried to the door. Her mind was reeling as she tried to think of a way out of this mess. He said he was watching and listening, she couldn't risk her family could she?

"The only car out there. There's a jacket by the door. Put it on. If anyone sees the bomb, well, you know. Now get going."

She found the coat, put it on and looked down at the vest before she closed the jacket. She stepped into the light of day and cringed. She waited for her eyes to adjust and hurried to the blue ford hatchback. What a POS she thought. She flipped the visor down and the keys fell into her lap. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. She found a sign that said, five miles to the junction with Gardiner Expressway.

Ok good, she thought, I'm close to Toronto. She took the phone out and wondered if it had GPS. She'd checked her pockets on the way to the car and found them empty. He must have her phone. Damn. She hit the button for the phone and was relieved to see an app for GPS. She typed in the name of the bank and hit go.

##### his perspective 0730 hrs #####

Winnie answered the 911 direct line and after talking to someone for a moment hit the klaxon alarm.

Team One looked up from their varied conversations, rose and walked to Winnie's desk from the briefing room.

"What's up Winnie?" Ed said as he stopped at the desk next to Greg.

"Jumper on the Gardiner, distraught female threatening to jump." Winnie reported as she looked at them.

Sam looked at Jules. "Ride together?"

Jules lifted a shoulder and smiled at him. "Sure."

"Gear up guys, let's go." Ed nodded to them and they headed out.

"So.." Jules dragged out the word and looked at Sam who was grabbing gear next to her. Now that things had shifted to them being best friends, it was so much better. It was so hard when they broke up. She knew she'd hurt him and it killed her. That was the last thing she wanted.

When he came back from his time off and she from her injury, it'd been tense and awkward at times. She knew she needed to talk to him, but put it off. Unfortunately, they were biting each other's heads off during a call one day and the Boss made them sit down together and talk. It was good actually. She'd apologized for hurting him and they'd agreed that being friends, best friends, would be the most they could do.

"So?" Sam looked at her and finished loading his remi.

"How was your visit with Nat this weekend?" Jules loaded her MP5 and clipped it to her chest.

"Oh, uh." Sam rolled his eyes and looked away, concentrating on clipping his MP5 to his chest. He turned and put the headset on and in his ear.

"That bad huh?" Jules looked at him questioningly. She followed him, put in her earpiece and caught up with him. When he didn't say anything and his ears got red she frowned. "Sam? What happened?"

Sam kept looking ahead as they got to the garage and double checked their gear with the rest of the team. He was hoping Jules would forget about Nat's visit. It was a total disaster and he didn't want to talk about it. He got in the SUV on the driver side, looked at Jules and pointed to his headset. The Boss was getting the details from Winnie and he wanted to listen. Anything to keep from talking about his sister's visit.

Jules listened to the details, but she was covertly studying Sam. Apparently something happened with Nat and it must've been bad if he didn't want to talk about it. She'd have to ask him about it later.

As Sam rode to the SIU two hours later he was going over the call in his mind and none of it was good. It seemed like everything about the call had gone wrong. Spike had a hard time getting into the security system because it was a newer system and anyone with the password was at a conference in Hamilton.

While they were running up the stairs to get to the subject, Wordy was tripped by one of the people being evacuated. He caught the woman and took the brunt of the fall but slammed his knee hard into the edge of several of the stairs. EMS had to take him out on a stretcher, his leg wrapped in blood soaked gauze and his face bruised.

The subject was hard to contain because he kept taking the hostage from office to office to try to hide from them. When they finally cornered him, Sam almost didn't get to a new Sierra One position in time to keep the subject from blowing up the hostage, the Boss, Ed and Jules. He'd had to take the shot as soon as he was in position which almost wasn't fast enough. He ran a hand through his hair at that thought. If he'd lost them, lost her it would be his undoing. He didn't know what he'd do without her.

Spike had started work on defusing the bomb when the Boss had negotiated it, but the design was intricate and he almost didn't get it diffused in time. Sam wanted to talk to Spike before SIU took him away, but he couldn't. It was obvious Spike was upset about the things that went wrong and was blaming himself.

#####

As Spike rode with Jules back to the barn, his knee bounced nervously and he looked out the window.

"You ok Spike?" Jules looked over at him, concerned.

His head whipped to her and he frowned. "Just peachy." Spike said sarcastically.

"We saved the hostage." Jules frowned. "I know things didn't exactly go as planned, but-"

"Go as planned?" Spike turned on her. " _Go as planned_?! Jules, I almost didn't even get us in the building! **And** ,"

"Spike. You got us in." Leah said over the headset and shook her head. She was new, but she wasn't blind. Spike was visibly upset when they were standing near the SUVs. She was glad to see and hear Jules force him to ride with her.

"Save it for debrief guys. We're almost to the barn." Greg interrupted and looked at the roof. That call had nearly been a disaster in so many ways. They'd nearly lost the hostage and everyone in the room, including members of his team.

Several minutes later they sat in the briefing room, except for Spike who was pacing.

Greg lifted his chin and watched Spike for a moment. He let the younger man pace and turn before he spoke. "Spike." He said gently.

Spike shook his head. "I screwed up. I'm sorry you guys. I screwed up and you-" He turned and continued pacing, rubbing the black band on his wrist. He turned to the window, head down and sniffed.

Wordy hobbled into the briefing room with a cane and his knee wrapped. He looked at Greg, walked silently to the window, stood next to Spike and put a hand on his shoulder. He started talking quietly to Spike while the others looked on.

He took a breath and nodded. "You need to get off your leg." Spike looked down at Wordy's leg, turned and walked him to the table.

"Thanks Spike, but I'm ok." Wordy smiled and looked the techie in the eye. He sat gingerly in a chair while Jules held it to keep it from moving. He looked at her. "Thanks."

"How's the leg?" Sam asked Wordy as he walked in, sidetracking them from Spike who was a little calmer now.

"It's good." Wordy looked at the table.

"Wordy?" Sam raised a brow at his friend.

"Ok, ok. Twenty-seven stitches and it's already very colorful. They said there wasn't anything broken or torn, I just need to be on light duty for a few days."

Jules leaned forward and gave Wordy the evil eye when he looked at her. There was no way that was the truth.

Wordy grumbled at her stare and threw up his hands. "Fine! They said two weeks." He glared at Jules.

"Thank you." Jules smiled and nodded at him.

Sam chuckled and leaned back in his chair.

"Ok, let's go over this call." Greg opened the file in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sam, how did SIU go?" Ed looked across the table at Sam, concerned.

"Ok." Sam shrugged. "Justified, but ongoing."

"Good. You ok?" Ed narrowed his eyes at Sam, accessing him.

"Yeah I'm good." Sam nodded and looked at the table. He was. Good that is. He was doing his job. The call had gone completely off the rails from the start. They were called for a jumper, but when they got there, they found that the jumper's boyfriend had actually been trying to force her to jump with a homemade bomb.

When they got to the scene, Jules and Leah interviewed the people who called it in. They'd seen the woman from the street and had called 911. It wasn't until the third witness called them from the stairwell to the roof that they knew what was really happening.

"I can't believe they didn't have someone there with access to the security cameras. Who sends all their security staff to a conference and leaves the new intern to watch things?" Wordy shook his head.

"Them apparently." The side of Spike's mouth quirked and everyone chuckled.

Jules smiled across the table at Spike, glad to see he was feeling a little better. "So." She looked at Greg who nodded and started reading the transcript.

When Greg got to the point where he found out why the boyfriend had the bomb, Sam chuckled. He shook his head. "I've heard of OCD, but he was hyper-OCD."

"Yeah I don't think she knew what she was getting into when she moved in with him." Wordy nodded and smiled.

"That apartment wasn't messy even by military standards." Sam raised his brows.

"It almost makes yours look like a pig sty." Jules nudged Sam playfully.

Sam looked at her and gave her a crooked smile. "Well, there was a cup in the sink. I wouldn't do that."

"Oh the horror." Spike put his hands on his cheeks and dropped his mouth open in a horrified look which got everyone laughing.

Leah, sitting next to Greg, leaned over and looked at the transcript. "He said: I can't stand her sloppy habits. She leaves small globs of toothpaste in the sink after she brushes her teeth. And she never cleans her hair out of her brush!" She looked around the table, an amused look on her face. "Yikes. He wouldn't want to live with me."

Greg let them prattle on for another minute before he cleared his throat and got them to refocus. He read on and looked up as he got closer to the point where Spike was working on the bomb. He could see the techie's knee was bouncing and he was running his fingers over the name on the gold plate attached to the black band. He stopped and said softly, "Spike." When the younger man didn't look at him, he said it again. "Spike?"

Spike looked up but couldn't bring himself to look at any of them. He'd nearly cost them their lives. He didn't know what he'd do if he ever caused another teammate's death. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head, his eyes locking with kind blue ones.

"You succeeded Spike, which means the team succeeded. No what ifs." Wordy smiled at the younger man. Spike was still struggling with Lou's death, hell they all were but Spike had taken it the hardest. He knew it was important after one of these close calls to give Spike some extra support.

"No what ifs." Spike repeated and looked down at his hand resting on the band on his wrist. I miss you so much buddy, he thought sadly. He felt another hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Leah standing next to him. He smiled up at her. He felt two more bumps and more pressure on his shoulders as the rest of Team One gathered around him, their hands on his shoulders.

Winnie, watching from the desk let a small, barely audible, "Awww" escape her lips. She felt bad for Spike. The last few weeks since Lou died had been hard on him. He would still stop and talk to her, but part of his spark had definitely dulled a little.

Commander Holleran looked up from the report he was reading when he heard Winnie speak. He'd been trying to multitask by walking and reading as he had a meeting with the Chief in ten minutes about that report. He stopped for a moment and observed his top, elite team. They worked so well together for a reason, their bond. He was glad to see Constable Kearns was finding her place with them. He smiled and continued his multitasking as he headed to his office.

The team sat back down and continued the debriefing. Once they were done, and no other hot calls came in, they went out on patrol.

As they headed out, Sam looked at Jules. "You mind if we stop by my bank since we're going to be in the area?"

"Sure." Jules shrugged. "If you're short for lunch I can buy and you can pay me back."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Thanks, I'm good. I just need to do a transfer. Won't take long."

"Ok." Jules smiled. "Then Timmy's?"

"Definitely." Sam nodded and made the first turn.

##### her perspective 1100 hrs #####

Sherry sniffed and wiped her eyes as she got off the Gardiner and headed into downtown Toronto. She couldn't stop crying. She'd tried, but she had so many emotions swirling inside it was all she could do. She wiped her eyes again and took a deep breath. She tightened her grip on the wheel and waited for her next turn. The GPS said she was only three miles from the bank.

Oh god, she thought. Can I really do this? She bit her lower lip and nodded to herself. Yes. I have to. He'll kill the kids. That thought brought the tears again and she gritted her teeth. "Get a hold of yourself dammit." She saw a cooking supply store and pulled over. She'd need a weapon.

##### subject's perspective #####

He grinned at the screen as he watched her cry. It felt delicious to see her suffering. After what she did, she deserved it and more. He leaned back in his comfy desk chair and sipped his Timmy's fountain soda. He'd been concerned she would recognize his voice and was a little irritated that she didn't.

How could she not know who he was? She was his boss for three damned months! Granted it was a good sized office with twenty others in his department, but that wasn't an excuse for her to not remember something simple like a voice! He'd wanted to blow her up in that moment, but his desperation won out.

If he didn't get the money, today, he would lose everything. Hannah would take Lincoln and he'd never see his precious boy again. He thought his boss would understand since she has a special needs child of her own, but she didn't.

Every time he had to call to say he'd be late or couldn't come in, she would berate him when he got back to work. He'd explained to her that his son had been deprived of oxygen during his birth which caused brain damage. Most of the time Lincoln would be fine when he dropped him off at school, but lately Lincoln had been having a hard time when he died to leave. Sometimes Lincoln would throw a fit at home, throwing his breakfast all over the kitchen and his dad making them late. Or, it would just be a total meltdown and he couldn't leave Lincoln at school.

He did everything he could to try to calm and soothe Lincoln, but nothing seemed to work, not even his usual balm, music. When he'd discovered Lincoln's shared love for rock music, he'd filled an MP3 with all of his favorites. He loved everything from hair bands to a little of the harder stuff like Linkin Park (his brown eyes lit up when he heard the name) and Nickelback.

Then came the day that Lincoln had a meltdown and accidentally knocked the MP3 player out of his hand, shattering it on the floor. That had escalated the tantrum to new heights and he'd had no choice but to give Lincoln one of his nightly sedatives to get him to calm down. He hated to do that. He never wanted Lincoln to miss out on all of the joys of life. That's why he took Lincoln on outings in the morning before work and on the weekend. It was their special father son time, but that was ruined by her.

She was a cold-hearted bitch. He'd hoped that she would understand, but she didn't. After a hellish week with Lincoln, he'd gone into work that Friday to her yelling at him in front of everyone that he was using his son to get special treatment. She fired him right then and there. He and Hannah were already strapped for money because of Lincoln's medical expenses, but this was the last straw for Hannah. It was the fourth job he'd lost in the last year and they were already behind on their mortgage.

Two hundred thousand dollars would solve their problems. It would pay off their mortgage and get them in a better position with Lincoln's bills. Who better to get the money for them than the woman who caused this? Yes, he thought as he watched her walk out of the store, a large knife hidden in a paper bag. You will fix your mess and save us.

##### her perspective #####

She got in the car, pulled the knife from the bag and looked at it. Oh god, she thought, can I really go through with this? She put a shaking hand to her face and wiped her eyes. A man in an SRU uniform walked to the store and looked in her direction. He did a double take and stopped at the door, but she'd already started the car and backed out of her spot and into the street. Sherry threw the car into drive, wiped her eyes and continued down the street towards what she knew would be the worst day of her life.

##### their perspective #####

Wordy watched the woman leave, a little concerned, then turned and went into the store. She looked really upset, but he chalked it up to a bad day. He shrugged to himself as he hummed and made his way to the coolers.

"Everything ok Wordy?" Leah asked from the truck.

"Yeah, just saw a woman that looked upset, but she left so.." Wordy grabbed three drinks from the coolers and started back to the register to pay for them.

"No damsel in distress?" Spike said dejectedly from his seat behind Leah. He sat back and sighed, looking out the window.

Leah turned and gave him an amused "are you serious?" look.

Ed looked at Greg from the passenger seat of their SUV and chuckled. "Pretty sure you're going to be the damsel in distress if you aren't careful Spike."

Sam raised a brow at Jules as he made another turn towards his bank. He laughed at the look on her face. "Good thing we're a ways away from you."

Jules smiled and shook her head.

Spike's head whipped to Leah, his eyes wide. "Oh, uh, I mean-"

After letting him sputter for a minute, Leah put up a hand and smiled at Spike as Wordy climbed back into the driver seat. "It's all good Spike." She smiled.

He sat back, but knew he'd probably be sorry later when he saw Jules. Spike changed the subject by thanking Wordy for his energy drink and launching into a funny story about him drinking too many and literally bouncing off the walls.

##### her perspective 1135 hrs #####

Fifteen minutes. That's how long she had been sitting in her car down the block from the bank willing herself to get out of the car. Sherry looked at the clock for the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes. It'd barely moved since the last time she looked. Damn it, she thought. She didn't have much time. She wanted this over as soon as possible so she could get to the kids. But, what she had to do to accomplish that was weighing heavily on her. She looked down at the numbers on the display on her chest ticking away.

She took a deep breath, stuck her hand with the knife into her jacket pocket as she got out of her car. She walked confidently down the street and stopped in front of the glass door to the bank. For a moment, she stared at her reflection. The jacket and vest it was covering made her look bulky. Her gaze traveled up and met her own emotion filled eyes. I've got this, she thought with resolve and entered the bank.

There were three people in line and all three tellers were busy. Sherry shoved her other hand in her jacket pocket, kept her head tipped down and her eyes covertly watching the tellers. The first person in line moved to the teller in the middle and she could see the first teller was wrapping up with her customer. Good, she thought, the one on the end is closer to the door. In and out, no harm no foul.

##### his perspective 1130 hrs #####

Jules stole a look at Sam. He'd become quiet after Spike finished his story. She reached down and turned off her radio.

Sam's fine tuned hearing picked up the tiny tick caused by one of their radios being turned off. He hadn't mentioned it to any of them but he could always tell who it was that had gone offline. He sighed, reached down and turned his radio off. When she didn't say anything, he looked at her. She raised a brow at him and he frowned. "What's up?"

"I just want to help."

"I know." Sam sighed as he stopped in front of the bank and watched a woman that seemed to be staring into the bank before she walked in. "My visit with Nat was a complete disaster." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "She drives me crazy Jules. She flits around doing whatever the hell she wants-" He clenched his jaw and looked out his window.

"While you've had to work hard for everything you've got and be responsible." Jules nodded slightly.

He looked at her. She hit the nail on the head. How did she do that? She could read him like a book. Sam took a breath, opened his door and stepped out. He just couldn't talk about this right now. He heard her say his name, but he ignored her and walked into the bank.

##### her perspective 1145 hrs #####

This was taking forever. The woman in front of her had finally moved to the first teller and she was still waiting for the old man at the end. She rolled her eyes and looked up realizing at the last second she was looking directly in the security camera. Crap. She tipped her head down quickly and noticed that the last teller was calling to her.

The walk to the teller seemed like it took forever. It was in horrible, step by vibrating step slow motion. She stopped at the counter, pulled the note and knife from her pocket and put them on the counter.

Teller MaryAnn Choona froze. After a moment of staring at the note and knife, her training kicked in. Don't fight. Give them what they want, slip in the dye pack. Don't be a hero. She nodded slightly and opened her drawer. She was about to slip her hand down to the alarm when the woman spoke.

"No alarms. Just the money. 200 thousand, no more no less." Sherry said as steadily as she could. She knew she couldn't point he knife or say anything threatening. Crime shows like NCIS and Law and Order were her favorites and had taught her a lot. No threats meant fewer charges and less jail time if she was caught.

"I-I don't have that in my drawer." MaryAnn looked at the woman for the first time. She looked familiar.

"Then get it from the roller. No funny business." Sherry hitched her chin at the large metal rolling box and kept her hand on the blade, hoping the woman understood the implication. She knew the tellers used that for change and larger transactions so it should have what she needed. Her knowledge of bank procedures was helpful. She realized that was probably why the man had chosen her.

MaryAnn nodded and went to the roller with the bag the woman gave her. She grabbed the whole amount from the roller as slowly as she dared. She hoped that one of the other tellers or the manager would walk by.

"Hurry up." Sherry whispered. The woman was going too slow. She had to get out of here now before the cops showed up. She knew the woman would be looking for a way to hit the alarm if she hadn't already.

As she was walking back to her station, MaryAnn happened to look up and saw the familiar blonde SRU officer standing in line. Her heart jumped. If only he would look at her. Her eyes darted to the robber who was looking around. She looked at him again, willing him to look at her. When his gaze lifted to hers she gave a small sigh of relief. She gave him a "help me" look and shifted her gaze from him to her and back again before she put the bag on the counter.

Sam felt someone looking at him and looked towards the teller. He saw MaryAnn staring at him then her gaze shifted to the woman at the counter and back to him. Something was wrong. He slowly reached down and turned his radio on. He put a hand on the person in front of him and whispered, "slowly and calmly leave the bank. Don't make any sound. You're safe. Please go quickly." The man turned to him frowning , but when he saw it was an SRU officer he quickly complied.

"Sam?" Jules' ears pricked up when she heard what he said and saw the man leave with a few others. She jumped out of the SUV and called to the three people. "Can you tell me what's going on?" She asked them.

"I don't know. That officer told me to leave so I told these two and we left." The man looked into the bank as the blonde moved towards a woman at the counter. "Is it a robbery?"

Jules looked inside and her heart skipped a beat. "I need you to go stand at the back of my SUV. Go now. Boss?"

 **AN: Sorry for the long wait. I had a bit of writer's block. As always please review. And now, I'm going into my little bunker as I'm sure there will be some cliffy retaliation coming my way (thank you to Missblueyes63 and Kenyancougar for indulging my super silly side with the fruit and veggie bombing of their stories.)**


	3. Chapter 3

"On our way." Ed looked at their GPS location, then at Greg. "Take a right here. Wordy?"

Wordy started the SUV. "Be there in ten."

"Fast is good." Jules moved to the side of the large glass doors so she could see Sam and part of the possible subject.

##### her perspective ####

"Ok." She reached across the counter, grabbed the bag and dropped it to her side facing the window so that it was hidden from anyone else's view. She looked at the teller and saw that the woman was looking behind her. She frowned, realizing that it had gotten very quiet in the bank. She looked to her right and saw that the other tellers were gone. She started to back towards the door as she looked around, the other three customers were gone.

Her eye caught the slow movement of a blonde to her right and her head whipped to him. "Stop." She picked up the knife, but kept the blade pointed down.

"Ok." Sam stopped and put his hands up. "Thank you for keeping the knife down." He locked eyes with her. "My name is Sam Braddock with the Strategic Response Unit. Can you tell me your name?"

Sherry chuckled, she was screwed. Her head whipped to the teller when she saw the woman was backing away. "Come out here." When she hesitated, Sherry turned the knife towards the woman. "Please." She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and saw the blonde was much closer. "Stop! Stop moving dammit!" She turned the knife towards him but it was only inches from his face. She lowered it, but kept it pointed to his side.

MaryAnn walked around the end of the counter and stopped. She was behind the robber and didn't want to startle her. She looked between Sam and the woman. She realized that he had her attention so she started slowly backing towards the door. She turned slightly and saw a brown haired woman beckoning her to the door.

"Hey! Stop. Get over here." Sherry called to the woman.

"You don't need her." Sam said, trying to get her attention. He looked at MaryAnn and made a small gesture for her to stop.

##### their perspective #####

"Jules?" Greg asked as they stopped in front of the bank.

"Female subject, one female hostage but she is almost to the door. No others visible." Jules peeked through the door then slid back.

"Sounds like there may be others hiding." Wordy looked towards the bank from the back of the SUV.

"Mmm."

"Sam?" Ed frowned towards the bank. They'd been listening since Sam turned on his radio, but he hadn't tried to talk to them yet. He looked at Wordy.

"Was that a yes?" Wordy lifted his brows at Ed.

"It's just you and me." Sam's voice said over the coms.

Ed smirked at Wordy and nodded. He readied his rifle while Wordy and Leah got their kits from the back. They met up with Jules and Greg at the back of their SUV.

"Spike, eyes?" Greg asked.

"Working on it Boss. Three minutes." Spike typed furiously on the keyboard, his face getting red the longer it took him to get into their system.

"Fast is-" Ed started.

"Good. Yeah yeah." Spike cut in and growled.

Ed's eyebrows flew to the top of his head, his forehead wrinkling with it. He looked at Wordy who nodded and ran to the truck.

Wordy closed the door of the truck behind him and sat next to Spike who was fuming.

"I don't need a babysitter. I'm working on it!" Spike kept his gaze on the screen, but his tone was dripping with irritation.

After a moment, Wordy leaned forward and put his hand over Spike's on the keyboard. "Spike." When the Italian fixed him with a dark gaze he reached over with his other hand, turned Spike's comm off and did the same to his. "Take a breath a second. The last call is not this one. Leave it at the barn." He repeated their mantra.

"You've got this. You wouldn't be here if you didn't have the skills and trust me my friend," he put his hand over Spike's onto the younger man's shoulder and pulled Spike towards him, "you've got mad skills."

Spike gave a small smile. "You mean skillzz." He buzzed the last letters which made Wordy chuckle. He took a deep breath and blew it out. He nodded at Wordy and went back to work on the security system. When Wordy was at the door of the truck he looked at him. "Wordy." When the older man raised his brows, he bowed his head slightly. "Thanks. Again." He smiled when Wordy did and turned his radio back on. "I'm in Boss."

"Good job Spike. What do we got?" Ed said as he gave Wordy a nod of thanks.

##### his perspective #####

Sam stopped when the blade came up near his face. He was glad when she moved it down, but it was still there. He looked in her eyes and could see her reluctance, and her desperation. She felt she had no other option which made her dangerous.

The teller started moving to the door again and he was glad to see she was almost out. It hadn't taken much to get the other tellers to go hide in the back of the bank. They realized something was going on and he just had to motion to them to get them out. He hoped she wouldn't realize they were there and use them as hostages.

When he heard the team asking about the others in the bank he had to answer and get her attention away from the teller. "Mmm." He raised the tone slightly so it would sound like a yes.

"What?" The subject frowned at him then turned to the teller. "I said get back here!"

"It's just you and me." Sam said and kept watching her. Please ignore her, he thought. "Can you tell me what brought you here today?" He heard Spike snap and worried for his friend. That last call had shaken him up. He knew the rest of the team would do something to help Spike, but he would have to talk to him later.

##### her perspective #####

"No." Sherry shook her head, tears forming. When she heard the door open she whipped towards it and gasped. "Shit! Shit. Shit." She turned on Sam. "Now what?" She looked around the bank. It was empty. She had to get out of here, now. Her gaze found a clock and saw that it was after noon. She put her free hand to her face.

"Are you ok?" He asked her.

Sherry laughed and looked at him. "No Sam, I am not ok." She wiped her eyes and wondered why he didn't just take the knife. He was obviously SRU which meant he was trained in situations like this. Wouldn't he want to take the weapon and arrest her? She wondered what he was doing.

Sam took a breath. He was terrible at this, but he could see that this woman needed their help. "Ok, I'm just going to move over here ok?" He took his gun out, moved to the teller counter and placed it on top. He stepped back from it, his hands up. "No pressure, ok? We're just going to slow things down a bit ok?"

##### their perspective #####

"Good job Sam." Greg nodded and smiled. Maybe Sam wasn't as bad at negotiation as he thought. "Do we have an ID on the subject, Spike?"

"Yes. Sherry Crayson, 35. No record, married with four kids." Spike answered, reading from his screen.

"Ok, any problems with her or her husband's jobs? Gambling? Debts? Something made her need money today." Greg asked.

"Nothing so far. They're both well off. He's a lawyer, she's a financial advisor at a different bank." Spike shook his head.

"She's robbing the competition?" Jules looked at Greg.

"Or a former employer." Greg returned Jules' questioning look. "Spike?"

"Already on it Boss." Spike started typing.

##### her perspective #####

She started pacing, the knife twitching in her hand at her side. Oh god oh god oh god. Now I have a hostage? She tipped her head back. When she brought it down again she stared at him. "Why did you have to come in here? Why?! I was almost out of here and you come in and ruin-" She started pacing again.

"I had to take care of something." Sam said calmly.

"What? What couldn't wait five freaking minutes?" Sherry threw her hands up in frustration. She could feel the frustration and anger at the situation rise inside, bubbling to the surface. She saw the display on one of the tall tables, went to it and shoved it off with a growl. Her chest was heaving. How did she get herself into this damned mess, she asked herself for the umpteenth time today. Oh god, how could she get out of this? The officer was trying to talk to her, he said he wanted to help her, but how was he going to help? He couldn't, she was going to die if she didn't get out of this bank in the next fifteen minutes. Who knew where the meet up point was.

She looked to the exits again, her heartbeat kicking up another notch when she saw three people in tactical gear near the front. Shit. Her eyes darted back to the blonde when he said her name. "How do you know my name?" She frowned. Dammit. I'm screwed.

"It's what we do. We like to know who we're talking to." Sam said calmly even though she had the knife pointed towards him again. It wasn't up which was good. He had to keep it that way. "You don't look like you want to be here." He kept his hands up, showing her he wasn't a threat.

"Don't move." Sherry growled, the frustration not vented completely. "I need out of here." She looked at the clock.

"Somewhere you have to be Sherry?" Sam gained her gaze again.

"Just shh." She shushed him and looked towards the rear. She knew they'd probably have someone or several someone's at the back entrance, but that seemed like her best bet to get out of here. She looked at him and tried to convey her apologies with her eyes. "Let's go."

##### outside #####

"No. Sam, stall. Greg, we've got to go in." Ed said slightly panicked. He could see she wanted to take Sam out the back. They couldn't let that happen. "Wordy, Leah I'm coming to you. Jules and Spike cover the Boss."

"Be there in a minute." Spike answered. "Sherry's oldest child has cerebral palsy, so lots of medical bills. I talked to her sister, she's coming down. Their finances are strained due to medical bills, so the husband has been taking extra cases at work to try to dig them out. She is only working part time, probably so she can take care of the kids after school."

"Sounds good Spike. Keep digging. Jules can cover me." Greg nodded and looked at Jules. "What do you think?"

"Lots of stressors. Child with special needs, expenses, husband working a lot, taking care of the kids on her own." Jules trailed off.

"You don't think that's it though." Greg eyed her.

"No." Jules looked thoughtful.

Greg lifted one side of his mouth and an eyebrow.

"She works for another bank." Jules looked at Greg. "So if you're going to rob a bank, why not the one you know? You know the procedures, the internal workings, you could be in and out quickly, maybe without being caught. So why here? Why this bank?"

"Good question." Greg nodded.

##### inside #####

"Ok." Sam stood slowly from where he was leaning against the counter, waited while she picked up the black bag and slung it on her shoulder. "Boss." He whispered.

"What? Who're you-?" Sherry frowned at him and pointed the knife to the side of his neck, but several inches away. She leaned to one side and seeing nothing leaned to the other. She grabbed the earpiece from his ear and put it on hers. "Listen, your officer and I are walking out of here. No funny business, nothing stopping us."

"I'd really like to try to help you Sherry." A caring male voice said over the headset. "Is there some reason you have to leave soon?"

"Yeah, I don't want to be shot." She said tearing up. Oh god, please don't let them shoot me, she thought. This is the only way. She put her free hand to her mouth and sniffed. She took a deep breath and motioned for him to walk to her.

Sam hesitated, but knew it was better to comply with her. He agreed with Jules that there was more to this and he knew he needed to stay with her to find out. He stepped forward and stood in front of her, waiting.

"We don't want to do that either Sherry. We want everyone to go home safe. How do we do that?" The voice in her ear said.

"Let us leave!" She yelled into the earpiece, grabbed the officer's shirt, pushed him ahead of her and started walking towards the back door. "That's all I want. Once we're clear and no one _tracks_ us, I'll let the officer go." When the blonde looked at her she ignored him. "You get me?"

##### outside #####

Spike frowned and switched to the other channel the Boss told them before he started talking to her. What was she trying to say? "Boss?"

Jules was monitoring the other channel when she heard Spike. She looked at the Boss and put up two fingers.

"Yeah Spike?" Greg switched channels and turned to look at the truck.

"Am I imagining things or did she just say?" Spike asked.

"She wants us to track her?" Ed finished, surprised.

"Why would she want us to track her?" Greg said, confused.

"Something else is happening here." Jules shook her head. She didn't understand either. What the hell was this woman doing?

"Great, but we can't let her take Sam with her." Ed said as he stood ready with Wordy and Leah at the back exit.

##### inside #####

Sam looked up as he walked ahead of her towards the back of the bank. He didn't understand her. She just made it sound like she wanted them to follow her. Why? He found a camera, gave it a hard look, put a hand near his chest and made a few quick hand gestures before he dropped his hand. He knew Spike would be watching them so he did it again when they came to the next camera.

"Please, you have to let us go." Sherry begged as they reached the back door. She hadn't heard the man for a few minutes now and wondered if they'd actually left.

##### outside #####

"Jules!" Spike called as he knew she was still on their channel.

"Yes Spike?" Jules looked at Greg who'd just switched to her channel.

"We have to let them go."


	4. Chapter 4

"Why Spike?" Ed frowned at Wordy.

"Because Sam says we should." Spike rewound the video and watched the hand signals again.

Jules opened the door to the truck and walked inside.

"Watch." Spike pointed to the screen and played the recording.

"He's right. Sam signaled us to let her take him." Jules watched the screen as the signals replayed on a loop. "He knows something else is going on."

"It's too risky, dammit." Ed growled.

Just then, the back door opened and Sam stepped out with the subject close behind. His hands were handcuffed in front of him and his gun was missing.

"Ed, Team One, stand down." Greg commanded as he, Jules and Spike ran for the back of the bank. He quickly switched channels. "Sherry? Don't worry ok? They're just there to make sure you and Sam get to your car safely." He stopped at the corner of the bank, to her left and looked at his officers. "Stand down Team One." Jules and Spike stopped next to him, their guns pulled.

"Copy" The five members answered, their guns pointed at or to the side of the subject to avoid aiming at Sam.

"Oh god. Please don't shoot me." Sherry whispered as she hid behind Sam, her hand clutching the side of his vest tight.

"We don't want to do that Sherry. We just want to understand what's going on." Greg said soothingly.

Sherry took a breath and pushed Sam forward. "You couldn't possibly." She breathed.

"You might be surprised. All we want to do is help you get home to your kids safe and sound." Greg nodded.

"How?" Sherry looked around Sam to the left and saw a shorter bald man standing next to a beautiful brunette woman and dark haired, nice looking man. He pointed to his ear and then to hers. "Oh." She brightened at that.

She knew he probably had a microphone and camera on her so he could see and hear what was going on, but would he know about the headset? It may be worth the risk to keep it on. She just hoped it didn't get her and everyone else killed. She pushed Sam forward and to the left, towards the three officers at the corner of the building.

"Fabre needs you." Greg saw a flash in her eyes as she stopped near him. It was hard, but he focused on her so he didn't have to look at Sam. He knew that would make him want to rethink letting them go.

"They all do." Sherry nodded and gave Sam a small push. "Let's go."

Sam kept eye contact with Jules. 'I'll be ok' his look told her.

'Are you sure?' Jules gave Sam a worried look. The subject had the knife near his side, but pointed down. So far she'd been threat level yellow and hadn't actually made any threats. Jules wondered at that. She took a closer look at the woman. She had on a puffy jacket for her frame. It made her look much bigger than she was. Was that a way to hide more weapons? If so, why hadn't she used them?

He gave a small nod and a half-smile. Sam knew there was more to this and he had to stay with her to find out. She needed his help.

"Turn." Sherry instructed Sam and he complied. She kept him in front of her and facing them so she could open the car. She looked up at him and pulled out the keys. "Turn to me." She unlocked one cuff. "Get in. No hero stuff."

"No. I promise." Sam held her gaze, then stepped into the car with his hands on the dash.

Sherry nodded. Something in his eyes told her he wouldn't fight. She needed that. She needed him to help her through this. She didn't see any other way out. She looked at the officers, still aiming their guns at her. It was a terrifying sight. She'd never even seen a gun, much less had one pointed at her. The tears started and she couldn't stop them, she was so scared her legs were shaking. How was she going to tell them? She took a breath. "I promise no harm will come to him. We're taking a little drive. Once I know it's safe, I'll stop. You can meet up."

"What happens to you after that?" Greg asked.

"I'll have to see which way the wind blows me." Sherry turned and shut her eyes for a moment as she rounded the back of the car. Oh god, please let them understand. Please let him think that was a normal thing for me to say. She looked at them one last time and got in the car. She looked at Sam and hoped he could see how much she didn't want to put him in this danger.

She looked around the car and saw that there was a small oh shit handle on the dash on his side. She put the short chain through the hole and reattached it to his wrist. It meant that he would have to hold onto the handle to be comfortable, but it was the best she could do. She then looked at him. Crap. She should've had him put his seat belt on first. She gave him a concerned look.

"I don't take promises lightly Sherry." Sam said. He understood the dilemma and was a little surprised she even thought of the seat belt.

"Ok." Sherry said tentatively. She reached across him, grabbed the seat belt and pulled it across his middle, her face tingling pink when she brushed against him. "Sorry." She whispered. She clicked it in and turned on the car. If only she wasn't married, she thought then shook her head slightly at the thought. She'd never give up what she had now. Never. Now all she had to do was keep them safe. She blew out a breath, pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic.

"Did you see that?" Spike asked, befuddled and still holding the tracker launcher he just used. So far, this woman hadn't acted like any subject they'd dealt with before. "She put his seat belt on and signaled her turn." He shook his head as he ran to the truck to check the tracker.

"I think we should check the autoscripter." Jules looked at Greg.

Greg nodded "She was trying to tell us where they were going." He looked at Wordy, Leah and Ed and nodded. They turned and ran towards the truck, not far behind Spike. He went in first followed by Jules and Ed. Wordy and Leah stood at the door.

"Ok, tracker is up. She said: 'I promise no harm will come to him. We're taking a little drive. Once I know it's safe, I'll stop. You can meet up.' That's weird. Who talks like that?" Spike looked up at Jules and Greg.

Jules frowned. "No one." She thought about that for a moment.

"She's meeting up with someone." Greg's brows went up.

"'Taking a little drive' could mean it's a short distance." Ed nodded.

"Yeah but where and with who?" Spike asked.

"She said, 'once I know it's safe'. I don't think she knows where she's going." Jules had her arms crossed but pointed her finger at Spike when the thought came to her. "What was after that? She said something else weird."

Spike looked at the transcriptor. "The Boss asked what happened to her after she let Sam go and she said: 'I'll have to see which way the wind blows me.'" He frowned again. "What is that supposed to mean?"

##### inside the car #####

Sherry looked in the mirror and seeing only regular traffic she took a right, unsure of where she was going. "Oh god." She breathed. A tear slipped down her cheek and she swiped at it.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked gently. She was obviously scared out of her mind and in way over her head.

She stopped at a red light, put her elbows on the middle of the steering wheel and covered her face. "Oh god. Not even close." She groaned.

"I want to help you, but I'm not sure how." He said cautiously. He knew she was in trouble, but how much?

"Me either." Sherry chuckled and wiped her face in time to see the light change to green. She stepped on the gas and moved with the traffic. She hated driving around without a definitive direction, it was so pointless. That was probably why she had a constantly evolving list on her computer of her life goals. She had to meet goals and make new ones to feel like she was moving forward in life. She found a parking lot for a grocery store and pulled into it.

"Are we meeting someone here?" Sam looked around the parking lot.

"Only child?" Sherry chuckled as she looked at him.

"No. I have two sisters." Sam smiled at her.

She studied him a moment. There was a little sadness in his eyes when he mentioned his sisters. His face revealed nothing more than that, but it was plain in his blue eyes.

"I'm just trying to understand what's going on." Sam looked around them and saw no one had approached the car.

"I know." She sighed. She jumped when the phone rang and grabbed it from the cubby in front of the shifter. She looked at Sam and turned it on. "Hello?"

"Speaker." Sam whispered.

Sherry nodded and hit the button.

"Get out. Of the car. NOW!" An angry male voice yelled. "Go!"

"Oh shit." Sherry said to Sam before she climbed out. She stood with the car door open, hoping the man on the phone wouldn't know and Sam could still hear.

"You stupid bitch. Get away from the car. NOW!" He yelled. His face was various shades of red. Who did she think she was dealing with? Didn't she understand the rules? Taking a cop hostage was definitely not part of the rules and, she was obviously hoping he could help her.

"Oh, ok." Sherry's voice and hands shook as she moved away from the car, hit the speaker button and put the phone to her ear. She wiped tears from her face, took a breath and said, "I'm away from the car."

"Do you want your children to die Sherry? Do you? Because I'm pretty sure I never said it was ok to take a hostage, especially a cop! You better think about what you're doing right now because my thumb is on the trigger."

She heard a beep and looked inside her coat. A light turned on and the clock blinked. "Ohhh god oh god no no no. Please. Please!" Sherry begged as she held the front of the jacket away from the bomb.

Sam watched her and wished like hell he could get out. She suddenly became extremely agitated and looked inside her coat. Holy shit.

##### inside the SRU truck #####

Greg shook his head and switched the channel. He heard Sam say 'speaker' and put up a hand to tell the team to be quiet. Each of them switched to channel 1.

Their eyes went wide as they listened to a male voice scream at the subject, then a beep and only her side of the conversation. Whatever the man was saying had upset her deeply.

Spike put a finger to his lips and pointed to the comms. When they'd all muted their headsets he said, "someone is pulling her strings. Whatever he just threatened her with-" His face fell and his eyes went wide. "Oh shit." He turned to the computer and typed furiously. He pointed at the screen and looked at them. "She said, 'whatever way the wind blows me.' Blows. She has a bomb strapped to her. That's how he's controlling her."

Jules looked at Greg. "And her kids too I'm sure of it."

"We need to make sure-" Greg nodded.

"Already on it." Spike switched his channel and started talking to Winnie. Besides the kids, he asked that the officers check the house again for the husband. They needed to talk to him, ASAP and he had yet to be located. He looked up at Greg. "What about the sister? She's still here."

"Bring her in." Greg answered. He turned to Ed. "We need to find them."

"Wordy and I will head east," Ed nodded then turned to his team, "Leah, you head west. Spike, north. They're stopped here at this supermarket." He pointed his finger at the screen. "Once we find them, we follow only. Full stealth. We don't want to spook her or the guy pulling the strings. He must have some kind of surveillance on her so we need to be careful."

"Copy." Each answered and headed out.

"Ok Jules, let's see if we can get some answers." Greg sat in the chair while Jules opened the door to let Harmony Kilmartin into the truck.

"Mrs. Kilmartin. Please have a seat." Greg smiled at the blonde.

##### supermarket parking lot #####

When she walked back to the car, she had an eerily calm demeanor. Sam watched her and wondered at the change. It was obvious that whoever the man was had the detonator. He was uncomfortable when she sat next to him, but kept himself still. She didn't need him freaking out right now. "Who was that Sherry?"

Her head whipped to him, unadulterated fear in her eyes. She slowly shook her head.

"Ok." Sam could read that this was a very precarious situation. "You know, when I was a kid, my sister Sarah and I would spend a lot of time with my cousin Vic, Victor. He had a hard time hearing so they put those things on his ears." He lifted his hands but was stopped by the cuffs. Instead he showed her his ear. He shrugged and looked out the window. "We learned American Sign Language which was really fun, you know?" He looked at her.

"It was our own language, our secret way to tell each other everything. My dad was away all the time and my mom always had us or her aunt translate so it was really fun for us. Anyway, Sarah died when she was five and I haven't seen Vic in years. I don't know if I could communicate very well with him right now. I guess when I get home I should go see him." He held her gaze, hoping she would understand what he was trying to tell her.

Sherry stared at him. What the hell? Why was he telling her about his cousin? Oh. Her eyes dawned with understanding. "I've heard it's a beautiful language." She nodded slightly. Could they get away with it? She doubted it. The man said he had a camera on her. She took a moment to look around the car. She saw him frown at her, but she put her hand by his leg and spelled camera on the side of his pants. She found the camera on the molding between the windshield and her door.

Sam followed her eyes and found the camera. Damn. He could probably see the whole front area. It was too dangerous for her to keep writing on his leg. He looked her over quickly and saw the light through the coat. Yup, bomb. Shit. How was he going to get her out of this? He needed his hands free but he knew whoever the puppet master was, he'd be suspicious of that.

"Um." Sherry bit her lip and started the car. She really didn't want to do this. She couldn't believe he was making her. No, she thought, I'm not doing it. I refuse.

"What?" Sam asked. He could see her lips were trembling and her eyes were watering again.

"I have something, I have to go." She couldn't look at him.

"Ok. So, let's go." Sam looked out the windshield.

"No." It was barely audible and she cleared her throat. She started writing on his leg.

H-E -W-A-N-T-S-M-E-T-O-K-I-L-L-Y-O-U. Sam kept his face impassive. He moved his hand and when she saw she shook her head. No, he doesn't want her to do it here. He made the sign for go.

I-CA-N-T-

"Sherry." Sam interrupted her. "Everything is going to be ok."

Sherry put the car in drive, drove out of the parking lot and down the street. What was she going to do? She put her elbow on the window sill and her hand on her forehead. It felt like she'd fallen into a huge abyss. A dark, never ending hole that she knew had a bottom, but had no idea when she'd land. Her thoughts turned to her husband and her kids. Oh please let them be ok without me, she thought. Let them be able to move on with their lives and not hurt for too long.

Tie up loose ends. Sam could understand that. He could imagine that this was not what the man wanted to happen. Why was he making her rob a bank? Was the bank picked for a specific reason? Was she? He wanted to ask her but he knew she couldn't answer. He wondered if the camera had a microphone too. He wished Spike was here right now, he'd know by looking at it.

With a small shift in his seat he put his head on his arms and covertly looked at the camera. He knew she'd have him going back to his team today. He had no doubt about that. She was just a pawn in all this, or was she? Was she involved? No, he pushed that thought away. She was too scared and upset to be a willing party to this. He turned his head towards the mirror and caught a glimpse of a black SUV three cars behind them.

##### Spike's SUV #####

"Subject located. Sam is still in the vehicle." Spike said as he made a turn and he could see the passenger seat. No mistaking that blonde hair and black vest. The unnatural position Sam was in made him a little worried until he saw Sam sit up. "Now going west on Harrow street to circle the block."

"Nice job Spike. Keep an eye on them and let us know if they move. We're going to try to get ahead of them." Ed looked at their GPS. "Leah, park on the corner of Fifth and Harrow and be ready to move. Boss?"

##### command truck #####

"We're on our way" Greg said into the headset then looked at Mrs. Kilmartin. "Thank you so much for coming in." He stood which caused Jules and the sister to stand. "If we need anything else we'll call you."

"Please bring her home safe." Melanie Kilmartin stood and wiped her eyes. "I'll be at her house if you need me."

"Ok, thank you Melanie." Jules gave her a sympathetic smile and watched the woman leave. She wasn't able to give them much, but there was one thing she mentioned that Winnie was checking on for them. She looked at Greg.

"Winnie. Anything?" Greg asked, nodding at the look from Jules.

"One sec Boss, still talking to him." Winnie answered then went back to the other line. A minute later she came back. "Boss?"

"Go ahead Winnie." Greg answered.

"Her former boss says it was a professional parting of ways, but when I pressed him he said she'd been asked to resign after a nasty incident with one of her employees. Apparently, the employee, Davidson Patko, lodged many complaints about her, the biggest issue was her lack of compassion for his situation. He has a son with special needs and missed time because of it." Winnie relayed.

"Boss?" Spike drew it out in a nervous and frightened tone.

"Yeah Spike?" Greg glanced at Jules. He didn't like the way Spike said that.

"She's on the move." Spike started the truck and followed at a safe distance. After a few minutes he said, "she just turned into one of those abandoned warehouses on Sixth Street." Spike watched as she drove around the side of the warehouse and disappeared. He made the same turn, but parked on the side of the warehouse.

"On our way." Ed nodded at Wordy who stepped on the gas.

"Spike, I'll park at the front and cover the west side."

Spike got out of the truck. "Copy Leah."


	5. Chapter 5

"So what happened to Patko?" Greg asked as they climbed in the front of the command truck.

"Well, the manager said Sherry fired Patko, then went on a 'rampage' and fired five more employees when they booed at her. The five started a class action suit against Sherry and the company so the company fired her and rehired the five. They reviewed Patko's case internally and found it to be justified so they upheld the decision. Needless to say, Patko was extremely angry and threatened to sue, but the manager said he checked with his legal department and they haven't heard from Patko." Winnie explained.

"Thanks Winnie. Excellent work." Greg smiled then looked at Jules. "Why wouldn't he follow through with a lawyer?"

Jules shook her head slowly, thinking. "Didn't have the money?" She shrugged. "If his son has a severe disability that affects his work like that, they must have some major medical bills." She made a turn. "Winnie, check Patko's financials. See if you can pinpoint where the money is going."

"Copy." Winnie nodded, already going through the info. It didn't take long to see where the flow was. "Looks like it all goes to bills. Utilities, rent, groceries and the rest goes to either doctor offices or the hospital. They're pretty much bleeding money. As soon as there is a deposit, there are payments going out. Usually by Sunday or Monday the account is drained."

"That's a lot of stress. Taking care of a special needs child, little to no money every week and then he loses a job they depend on." Jules trailed off and shook her head sadly.

"By someone who should've understood." Greg said meaningfully.

She raised her brows, sighed and nodded. Sometimes, life sucks, Jules thought.

##### inside the car #####

Oh shit, Sam thought as she stopped the car. How to tell her his plan so the person on the phone didn't find out. Sign wouldn't really work, especially in the car. He looked at her and wondered if she had a camera and/or microphone on her. It was obvious the person knew she had him as hostage, but was he or she only aware when Sherry got in the car or before that? If Spike could tap into the bank security, was this person able to as well?

Sherry kept her hands on the steering wheel and put her head on the middle of it. What was she going to do? The man had made it crystal clear. Either she kills the cop, or he blows them both up and then kills her family. Seriously, she thought angrily, what kind of choice was that? She picked her head up and looked at the clock on the radio, 1:15. And, he wanted to see the body. What kind of sicko wants to see a dead body? Wait, her eyes lit up. Could she use that to her advantage? She looked at the cop. She put her hand down and started writing on his leg.

'He wants to see your dead body.' Sam gave her a slight nod to hide the fact his heartbeat kicked up a notch. He told her to kill him. Great. Ok, he thought, I could work with that. An idea formed and he smiled slightly. He really needed to get her away from the car so they could talk, hopefully. He caught her eye as she looked towards him. He tipped his head to the side slightly and brought it back.

She got out, opened the back, grabbed the money bag, rounded the front of the car and opened his door. "Don't try anything." She handed him the money bag and pulled the knife out of her coat pocket for emphasis.

"I promised." Sam said sincerely. "What're we doing?" He faked concern.

"I believe you. It's Sam right?" When he nodded she continued, "well Sam, we're taking a little walk." Sherry said quietly as she took the cuff off, let him stand and redid them awkwardly as she held the knife. She knew he could've taken the knife from her, but she was glad he was going along with it.

##### east side of warehouse 1300hrs (1pm) #####

Spike made his way down the side of the warehouse with his headset on and the parabolic pointed towards the end of the warehouse. He was about twenty feet from the end of the building when he heard, "we're going for little walk". His heart skipped a beat and he sidestepped a little further out to get a better signal, but stopped before he could be seen. He listened intently for any sign from Sam that he was injured. Not hearing any, he whispered. "Parabolic is up."

"Good job Spike. Get as close as you can, safely, in case Sam needs help." Greg said with concern as they stopped outside the fenced in yard. He nodded at Jules who jumped out of the truck and quickly got in the back.

"Wordy and I are hidden at the rear entrance to the yard and have eyes on Sam and the subject." Ed said as they watched the two intently through binoculars.

"Ok good. Leah see if you can get inside." Greg asked.

"Copy." Leah answered, her MP5 at the ready as she opened the door in front of her slowly and then carefully made her way inside the darkened space. She walked forwards about five feet, found some boxes and crouched down behind them. "In position. Limited joy, lots of obstructions in here." She whispered.

"This could be the rendezvous point, so we stay hidden and let this play out." Greg hated that Sam had put himself in this situation. He was sure Ed was going to be raging in debrief at this gigantic, unacceptable risk. He received five 'copy that'. "Hang on back there Jules, I'm moving us down the block to better cover."

##### outside the car 1315 hrs #####

Sherry grabbed the chain between the cuffs, turned and walked to the building. She opened the door and pulled the officer inside. It was really dark so she stopped to let their eyes adjust.

"Sherry, I have a plan." Sam whispered as he followed her into the darkness. When she looked back at him with fear in her eyes and shook her head he narrowed his eyes at her. Wasn't it safe to talk outside the car? She seemed to know where she was going. "Where are we going?" He asked in his normal voice.

She closed her eyes and sighed. Couldn't he be quiet for two seconds? She had to think. How were they going to do this? She couldn't kill him, she couldn't even bear to think about hurting him. The puppeteer, as he told her to call him, said he wanted to see the cop's blood. She made a decision. She knew what she had to do, she just hoped it would work. She saw an open, lit area about ten feet ahead of them, went to it and stopped. She stepped back from him, the knife in her hand at her side.

"Sherry? What are we doing?" Sam asked, feigning fear. He dropped the money bag and put his handcuffed hands up in front of him.

"I'm sorry." Sherry shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. "I should've left you in the bank. It's my fault you're here." She stepped towards him gripping the knife hard.

"There's still time." Sam gave her a meaningful look. "We can figure this out."

"I have to. I'm sorry." Sherry sniffed and stepped a few inches from his outstretched hands. She looked in his eyes and hoped he could read what she was saying.

##### outside the warehouse 1320 hrs #####

"Alpha at the west door." Ed stated as he and Wordy waited by the door Leah went in. As soon as they saw Sam and the subject enter the warehouse they'd booked it across the yard to the door.

"I'm at the east door." Spike added and looked back towards the truck. When he lost them in the building he ran towards the door he parked next to and waited.

"Copy. Hold. Leah?" Greg looked at Jules nervously. They were listening on Sherry's channel and didn't like the sound of it.

Leah had her MP5 pointed at the subject, but her finger wasn't on the trigger. Something was up. "I have the solution. The subject has the knife, but- oh! Shit!"

"Leah? Status!" Greg asked as he switched back to Sherry's channel.

"Hold. Hold." Leah whispered vehemently as she stared at the scene in front of her. Holy shit, did that just happen? What the hell? She could see Sam on the ground, but couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. He was on his side facing away from her, but she could clearly see a bloody knife protruding from his side. She looked at the subject who had just gotten up from on top of Sam, her chest heaving. Suddenly, maniacal laugh echoed throughout the warehouse.

"Leah? Greg, we need to get in there." Ed growled. He looked at Wordy who nodded and grabbed the door knob.

"Dammit Ed. Just wait." Leah growled back. She cringed slightly knowing Ed wouldn't like being talked to like that, but dammit, he couldn't see what she was seeing.

Ed's eyebrows flew to the top of his head and he looked at Wordy incredulously. Was she serious? His anger flared and he clenched the fist not holding his MP5.

"Easy." Wordy put a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Gotta be a reason." Otherwise, he laughed internally, Leah is a dead woman for talking to Ed like that. He could see the murderous intent in his friend's eyes and felt a pang of fear for Leah. Debrief was not going to be pretty.

##### inside the warehouse 1245 hrs #####

Dave turned from the monitor when he heard his son's high pitched shriek. "Hey buddy. Whatcha need?" He walked over to the wheelchair in front of the tv.

Lincoln leaned his head back so he could see his dad, then used one of his atrophied hands and pointed at his lap. "Baahtroom."

"Gotta go? Ok." Dave smiled and waited while Lincoln maneuvered his electric wheelchair to the small bathroom. He unbuckled Lincoln from the chair, took down his pants and pull-ups and lifted him to the toilet. After he was done, Dave reversed the process. He was glad Linc had told him this time. They'd been working on it so Linc didn't have to stay in diapers, but it was slow going. Sometimes his bladder didn't communicate with his brain and he didn't know to ask until it was too late. The new medicine seemed to be helping. "Better Linc?" He put a hand on Linc's shoulder.

"Yah." Linc gave him a toothy smile and moved his chair back to the tv.

He watched his son with pride and love. He couldn't imagine loving anyone more than he did his son. From the moment he saw his tiny son in the incubator, he'd made a vow to do everything he could to protect his son and make sure he had a better life than Dave had. He didn't care when the doctors had said Linc would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, that he'd never walk and have a limited vocabulary. He loved his son no matter what and would do anything for him. Anything.

Dave returned to the monitor and watched as the bitch got out of the car at the back of the warehouse. He smiled. This was perfect. He'd have his money and she'd go away for murdering a police officer. She'd never see the light of day or her husband and kids. He'd pay off everything and things would be perfect.

As the bitch brought the cop into the warehouse, he switched to the internal camera. He was going to buy his brother Pal a six pack for his help with the cameras. He wouldn't have been able to do this without them. He didn't care that they didn't actually have audio, but he could tell that the bitch and her hostage believed him because they didn't speak much in the car. He would've loved to blow them both up, but he needed his money first.

She stopped walking and stepped back from the cop. Oh this was going to be good, he thought and grinned expectantly. He did not, however, expect to see what he did. Their struggle for the knife made him laugh and he stole a quick look at Linc before he rushed out the door to the catwalk surrounding the office. He laughed maniacally at the scene before him. She was on top of the cop, the knife buried in his side. He watched her push herself off of him, covered in his blood, her chest heaving. "I knew you had it in you." He stepped back from the edge of the catwalk into the shadows.

Sherry looked up towards the voice and her heart skipped a beat. He was here, she thought. Oh god. Oh thank god this is almost over. "Who are you dammit?!" She yelled at the blackness. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked down at Sam to try to see. It was one of his teammates from the bank. When the woman pointed her gun at Sherry, she quickly looked up at the catwalk. Him, not me she thought desperately.

"Come on Sherry. You haven't figured it out yet?" He laughed. A very distinct, nasally laugh. One she would know all too well.

##### inside the warehouse 1320 hrs #####

The following happened in the next thirty seconds:

Sherry lunged towards Sam, lifted the knife in her right hand, cut a four inch gash down her left forearm with a scream which she used to make her face look angry as she lunged.

Sam was surprised by the action and realized what she was doing. He allowed her to run into his chest so the blood smeared and soaked into his vest. He put his hands out, caught her hand with the knife and guided it through the side of his vest as they fell to the floor in a heap.

With a look of pure horror, Sherry saw the knife slide through his vest, heard him grunt and then saw the back of his head bounce off the floor. "Oh my god." She gasped. She leaned forward so she was next to his ear. "I'm so sorry. Are you ok?"

A maniacal laugh drifted through the warehouse and Sam used it to cover his answer, "knife didn't touch me. Head is ok. I'll be ready. Get him down here." He closed his eyes and willed his head to stop pounding. He could feel her blood soaking into his clothes and wondered if some wasn't his. His side hurt where the knife edge was pressed against it.

She changed her face into one of anger and pushed herself up off him as he rolled to the side, blood dripping from his uniform. Sherry instinctively put a hand over the gash on her arm to stop the bleeding and looked up at the catwalk. "Dammit, who are you?!"

"Come on Sherry. You haven't figured it out yet?" Dave laughed.

"Oh my god." Sherry put a hand to her mouth. "Davidson?"

"Well look who just caught up." Dave stepped forward into the light.

"Davidson? Why would you do this?" Sherry stepped forward angrily.

"Why? You're seriously asking me why?" Dave turned, walked to the stairs and started down. "You," he pointed menacingly at her as he walked down the last few steps, "screwed up my life! You fired me for no good reason. Do you have any idea what that does to someone who lives paycheck to paycheck?" He stomped towards her, his face twisted in anger.

Sherry wanted to stand her ground, but she knew Sam needed her to bring him closer so she backed up. She looked down and saw something in his hand. This time her fear was real as she stepped closer to Sam.

"Boss. Sam down, maybe playing possum. Eyes on second subject. Ed, silent entry?" Leah said as loud as she dared. She could see that Sam was still breathing, which was a good sign. What she saw him do was crazy risky, but she saw him whisper to to the subject before Sherry stood up. Now the woman was leading the subject back towards Sam. Sam obviously had some kind of plan. They had to be ready when Sam made his move.

"I'm going to find a perch. Wordy stay here and breach on the signal." Ed answered quietly. He looked at Wordy who nodded and slapped him on the soldier. He turned and ran down the west side of the building looking for another entry point.

"Jules and I will meet Spike at the east door." Greg said as he nodded at Jules who stood and followed him out of the truck.

Sam slit his eyes open so he could see what was happening. The subject was stalking towards Sherry, yelling at her about what she did to him. Luckily, Sherry was backing towards him. He could see that the subject had something in his hand, a red light just visible above his fist. That would be his priority. He heard a small noise behind him and wished he could turn. Instead he moved his head slightly, hoping it would be acknowledgement enough.

Leah made a small bird sound and saw Sam's head move slightly. She took a glove off and tapped her fingernail on the floor. W-e. Pause. R. Pause. H-e-r-e.

Again Sam moved his head slightly. The team was here, good. He kept his eyes open slightly and looked up. He couldn't see Ed, but he knew his team leader was here somewhere. He closed his eyes as Sherry stopped in front of him.

"How could you be so cold and heartless?" Dave growled. "You have a special needs child! You know how it is!"

"Yes I do, but I don't use it as an excuse Davidson!" Sherry fired back. "I've taught my son to never use his disability as an excuse. Yes he has limitations, but that's just the way life is. You accept it and make your own way."

"You think I used my son's disabilities as an excuse?" Dave gritted his teeth, drew back his hand and slapped her hard across the face. He lifted his other hand and showed her the detonator. It got the desired result and she backed away from him.

Sherry knew Sam was behind her, but she didn't realize how close she was. When Davidson slapped her she reeled back from it. When he showed her the detonator, she stepped back from him and tripped over Sam. She went down hard on her butt and right wrist as she tried to stop her fall. She screamed, grabbed her wrist and cradled it in her left arm. The pain was unbearable and she fought not to pass out from it. "Please, Davidson," she cried, "I'm sorry. Please, you have your money." She pointed to the bag on the floor near Sam's feet.

He leaned down and picked up the bag. "Did you really think you could just walk away from this?" Dave laughed incredulously. He held up the detonator.

"Davidson Patko." Greg stepped out of the shadows from behind them, Spike and Jules at his side, their MP5's pointed at the man's head. "My name is Sergeant Greg Parker with the Strategic Response unit."

"Get out. This doesn't concern you." Dave turned and looked at the bald man, pretty brunette and dark haired man next to him. He heard a noise behind him and saw a black woman and another balding guy, all with their guns pointed at them. Shit this was bad. He gripped the remote tighter. He glanced up and hoped that Lincoln was ok in the office up there.

"Someone else here Davidson?" Greg followed the subject's eyes up. "Jules." He said quietly.

"It's Dave and no. No one else is- No! Don't hurt him!" Dave said panicked as he watched the little brunette sprint up the stairs.

"Is he armed?" Greg asked.

"No! He's just a boy." Dave continued to stare upstairs.

"Boss, it's his son. All clear." Jules said as she looked at a smiling Lincoln. "Hey, you must be Lincoln, you mind if I hang out with you? I'm Jules." When the boy nodded she smiled and pulled up a chair.

The members of Team One breathed a sigh of relief as they listened to Jules talk to the boy.

"It's ok. My officer is with him. She'll keep him safe." Greg said meaningfully. "Is he what this is all about?"

"No. it's about her." Dave pointed the hand with the detonator at Sherry who was still on the ground, holding her arm.

"All right. I'd like to talk about that, but first I need to know how my officer is doing." Greg looked down at Sam then back at Dave.

"Oh. Well, she killed him. Stabbed him with a huge kitchen knife." Dave laughed and pointed at Sherry who was shaking her head and sobbing.

 **AN: One more chapter! I promise it won't take as long to post as this one. :) As always please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Both of her arms were killing her. The bleeding from the knife wound had slowed, but it was still seeping. Sherry looked behind her and saw the male officer's blue eyes looking between her and Sam, his jaw worked worriedly. "He's ok." She whispered to him.

Sam wished he could tell them he was ok. It'd been hard for him not to make any noise when Sherry had tripped over him. Although the blade was pointing down, the edge of the knife was pressing into his stomach and he was pretty sure he was bleeding from it. He was getting dizzy and was fighting to stay awake.

"We know." Leah whispered back. She glanced at Wordy.

"I'd really like for an EMT to check our guy over. Can we do that?" Greg took a step forward.

Dave looked at the blonde on the floor. "No. there's enough people in here."

"Sierra One." Greg put his hand over his mouth.

"I have the solution." Ed said quietly from his perch behind Greg and Spike. He was on top of a large air conditioning unit that was mounted to the wall of the building. The space was barely big enough for him to lie down with his rifle.

"I understand. Can I have one of my officers check on him? I promise that is all they'll do." Greg didn't want to push too hard, but they needed to help Sam. He had a lot of blood on him, although Sherry was covered as well.

"No, dammit. Just leave him. He's dead." Dave shook his head.

"Ok. Can you tell me what brought us here today?" Greg lifted his chin slightly.

"I don't know." Dave shrugged, acting dumb. "Why are you here?"

"How do you know Sherry?" Greg asked gently.

"Oh, we're old friends." Dave said sarcastically and looked at Sherry. "Right?"

"I'm sorry I had to fire you Dave. I didn't want to but I was getting pressure from my boss." Sherry shook her head.

"Oh bullshit! Don't give me that! You knew my situation at home. About my son. I told you I had to make trips to the States for his meds. I can't wait on our crappy medical system to treat him. And you know that he has trouble letting me go sometimes." He turned to Greg. "She knew all this and she still fired me."

Greg nodded. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I can't imagine how hard it is for you to try to juggle all of that. I can tell that you love your son very much."

"More than anything." Dave nodded and looked towards the office. "He's my everything."

"I understand. I have a son too. We want to do everything we can to make sure they're happy and healthy." Greg smiled.

"I was, until this bitch ruined it." Dave turned towards Sherry and growled.

"No, no. Look at me Dave. It's just us talking here." Greg put up a hand and waved it to get Dave's attention. When Dave turned to him he said, "tell me about your son. What's his name?"

Dave sighed. "His name is Lincoln. He was born at 12:01 am the first of January."

"First baby of the new year." Greg smiled.

"Yeah." Dave nodded. "He wasn't supposed to be. He was a month early. As she was pushing him out he, uh, got stuck in the birth canal and was deprived of oxygen. They didn't know if it was going to affect him at first, but we didn't care. He was so tiny." He teared up at the memory and put up his hands. "He fit in my palm."

"Something in his hand." Ed warned. "Looks like a detonator."

"Copy." Greg acknowledged quietly. "A little miracle." He looked at Dave with a small smile.

"He was. He is. They weren't sure he was going to make it. His lungs were underdeveloped, he got infection after infection." Dave shook his head and looked at Greg. "He's a fighter though."

"Like you."

Sam slit his eyes open again and realized he'd passed out for a few minutes. Shit, what'd he miss? He listened to the conversation.

"Yeah." Dave nodded sadly. "So you understand why.." he trailed off and looked at Sherry.

"Yeah. I understand. But this isn't the way to solve your problems." Greg eyed him.

"I'm doing what I have to. What must be done to ensure a good life for my little boy." Dave picked up the bag of money. "So here's what we're going to do. I walk out of here with Lincoln, you arrest her and we call it a day."

"We can't do that Dave. As much as I'd like to, we can't." Greg shook his head.

"Well that's the way it has to be." Dave lifted his hand with the detonator.

"Ok. You want to explain that to me?" Greg asked. He knew where this was going and unfortunately he had to move it along for Sam and Sherry's sakes. They both needed medical attention sooner rather than later.

"Show them Sherry." Dave looked at her

Sherry used one hand to unzip her jacket, open it and slide it off. She heard the two officers behind her gasp and back up.

"Spike?" Greg looked at their tech.

"Don't know until I can see it up close, but twenty foot radius." Spike said looking at the vest quickly.

"Copy." Greg's eyes flicked back to the subject. "All we want is for everyone to go home safe today. You, your son, all of us. Hand me the detonator Dave so we can do that."

Dave looked into the kind eyes of the man in front of him. That was all he wanted too, but what about the bomb? He wasn't stupid. He'd used the bomb to force her to do things. He'd be going to jail. "I can't. I have to be with my son. I can't go to jail." He looked at Sherry. "Stand up." He walked to her, grabbed the vest and pulled her up.

"No. No." Sherry wavered on her feet. The pain in her arms was overwhelming and she clutched them to her torso, her blood soaking into the bomb. Her knees started to buckle and she fought to keep upright.

Sam prepared himself to catch Sherry before she fell on him again. He hoped that if she did fall, him catching her would be enough of a distraction for the team to rush Dave and end this. Man, he thought, my head is really pounding. I must've hit it harder than I thought. He started sniper breathing to control the pain.

"Stand up." Dave growled. He looked down at the bomb. Only a half hour left on the timer.

"Ok, easy Dave." Greg put a hand up.

Dave reached down and removed the timer wire, stopping the countdown.

"Spike?" Greg asked quietly.

"Detonator can still set it off." Spike answered, his voice low.

"Wordy, Spike switch positions." Ed ordered.

"Copy." They answered at the same time. They both knew they needed Spike as close to the bomb as possible so they quickly switched places.

"Where are they going?" Dave asked as he watched the two men trade places.

"Don't worry about them. Just focus on me." Greg waved a hand then pointed to himself. "Thank you for stopping the timer. It takes a little pressure off, right?"

"Yeah." Dave nodded. "So bring Lincoln down here and we're out of here."

"It looks like Sherry isn't doing so well. She needs a doctor."

"Ok, so bring Lincoln down here then. He and I will leave, I'll drop the detonator outside and that'll be that." Dave held on to Sherry to keep her from falling to the floor, the detonator in the other hand.

"Dave, think about your son." Greg said with a slight warning in his voice.

"BRING HIM DOWN HERE!" Dave bellowed. "I WANT MY SON!"

"Dave. Listen to me. LISTEN." Greg raised his voice getting the man's attention. "You think about your son right now. That boy is your everything, and you his. You have to think about what's best for him right now. What happens after you and he leave? You can't go home."

Sam tensed his body, ready to react although he knew once he got up his pounding head might impede him a little. He continued sniper breathing to ward off the pain and ready himself. The Boss had definitely established a connection with the subject, but his outburst just now made Sam wonder if the man would actually give up.

"I'll figure it out." Dave frowned. He hadn't thought of that. He'd just have to take Linc into the States or something.

"He needs a lot of attention and care. Something you can't give him if you're on the run. How're you going to take care of him Dave? And what about his mom? Your wife? She won't get to see him again." Greg shook his head. "That's no way to live and you know that."

Dave looked up at the office. How would he take care of Lincoln? He'd have to work or make money somehow for them to live. How would he do that and take care of Lincoln? His heart sank at the thought and his eyes filled. He couldn't do that to Lincoln. He deserved a happy life. Better than the one Dave could give him on the run. He looked at Greg. "I need to say goodbye to him."

Greg nodded. "Sure. Jules?"

Jules looked at Lincoln and gave him a gentle smile. She'd been listening to the exchange and had smiled when the Boss got Dave to realize he was out of options. Lincoln had given her a toothy grin back and she felt a pang of sympathy for him.

This would be hard on the boy most of all. "Want to go see your dad?" When he nodded she stood, moved behind his chair and pushed him out onto the catwalk. She carefully and gently took him down the stairs one at a time with Wordy helping from the bottom. They walked to where Greg was standing and stopped.

"No. Bring him closer." Dave shook his head and pulled on Sherry, making her bump into him.

Sherry gasped when her arm hit his and her body followed. It was like two bolts of lightning shooting up her arm and through her body. Her eyes rolled back and she crumpled to the floor.

Just before she landed, Sam reached out and caught her, his stomach taking the brunt of the impact, his hand cradled her head before it could snap back. He groaned as the knife dug deeper into his flesh and he, unwillingly, slipped unconscious.

"Sam!" Spike yelled, his heart kicking up. His eyes darted to his friend and back to the subject who was staring at the blonde on the floor.

"He's not dead?" Dave could only stare at the blonde man.

"Look at your son Dave." Greg said a little desperately. "He needs you to do the right thing here. The officer is injured not dead. I'm not making any promises, but that means you may be able to come home sooner. Hand the detonator to my officer and we'll let you say goodbye to your son. Come on."

"What about her?" Dave asked quietly as he looked at the dark haired officer holding out his hand.

Greg swallowed. No, he thought. Focus on your son. "You just have to concentrate on your son. He's the most important thing right?"

"Yeah." Dave looked at Lincoln again and swallowed the lump in his throat. Oh god this was going to be hard on him. Hannah was probably going to hate him. He put his hand over his eyes and sobbed.

Spike took the opportunity to step closer to the man and let his MP5 hang from the clip on the front of his vest. "Let me have the detonator." He said quietly. He put a hand on the man's shoulder while Leah covered him. He held his hand out, waiting. When Dave put the detonator in his hand, he stepped back while Leah and Wordy stepped forward.

"Hands behind your back." Leah said firmly while Wordy moved forward. When the man complied, she handcuffed him and handed him to Wordy. She knelt down next to Sherry and Sam.

"Ok. Let's see." Spike knelt down and said to himself as he looked at the vest on Sherry. He looked over the vest and looked up at Dave. "You have a doubleback circuit to the battery?"

Dave nodded numbly. "The det wire to the right of the circuit. Cut that one, then the red wire to the battery."

"Thanks." Spike nodded and cut the wires. He looked at Leah and she carefully lifted Sherry while Spike removed the vest. He set it to the side and helped Leah move Sherry off of Sam. While Leah assessed Sherry, Spike started removing Sam's gear and vest.

Leah put a pressure bandage on Sherry's cut arm and took her vitals. "Winnie, we need EMS in here."

"Copy. Sending them in." Winnie answered and radioed the ambulance waiting outside the fenced yard.

"Sam?" Spike got Sam's vest open and saw the blood seeping from his side. He took out a pressure bandage and placed it over the wound.

Wordy walked Dave over to his son and let him kneel down.

"Hey buddy. I'm sorry, but I'm gonna be going away for a little while." Dave gave him a small smile.

"Yah." Lincoln smiled at his dad.

"Yeah." Dave nodded. "I messed up buddy. I just wanted you to have a good life. But, I promise you that I will do everything I can to come back to you, ok? Daddy loves you very much." Dave looked back at Wordy who nodded and let go of his arm. He leaned forward and kissed Linc on the cheek. "I love you Lincoln."

"Ahhh. Da da." Linc looked at his dad. Why was he sad? "Lllove da da. Llloove!"

"Oh Linc!" Dave's brows lifted high on his head. He looked up at Greg with tears in his eyes. "That's the first time he's ever called me da da. Or said he loves me too. Oh my god." He hung his head and sobbed.

Greg looked at Wordy after a moment and gave a small nod.

Wordy pulled on Dave's arm and helped him stand. "Let's go." He murmured and led the subject outside.

Two medics ran into the warehouse and started working on Sam and Sherry who were both unconscious.

Spike and Leah rose and stepped back as two more medics rushed in.

Sam could hear people talking and doing things to him, but the pain was overriding his hearing. "Wha?" He asked, trying to hear what was said.

"Just relax buddy. They're going to take you to get checked out." Spike knelt down and put a hand on Sam's leg.

"Sherry ok?" Sam asked groggily. He could tell they'd already given him pain meds, his mind was swimming with the euphoria.

"They're checking her out too. Don't worry." Spike said soothingly.

A few minutes later they were loading Sam and Sherry on stretchers and taking them to the waiting ambulances.

Ed walked up to Greg and put a hand on his shoulder. "You all right?"

Greg nodded. "Yeah. I'll meet you at the hospital."

"Ok." Ed said quietly and nodded back. He looked at Jules and they walked to Leah and Spike. "Let's load up."

Spike picked up the vest and brought it out to the bomb disposal lock box in the command truck.

Inspector Stainton stopped Leah before she got in the SUV. "I need you to come with me Constable Kearns. I need your statement."

Leah nodded and followed Stainton while Wordy watched.

An hour later, Leah walked into the ER waiting room and walked over to where her team was sitting. "Any word?"

"They're getting Sam moved to a room. He needed 20 stitches in his side where the knife cut him and he has a bad concussion so they want to keep him overnight for observation." Greg looked up at their rookie.

"I'll bet that went over well." Leah raised a brow.

"Yeah Sam was not impressed." Spike chuckled and looked at Ed who was sitting on the end next to Greg. "Ed had to order him to stay."

Ed glowered at the floor. He hated having to do that, but it was necessary. Sam was too damned stubborn about his aversion to hospitals. He understood, but the doctor said they would restrain Sam if they had to. He couldn't let them do that. He was still pissed that Sam took the risk of going with the woman as a hostage. It'd ended up getting them both hurt. He didn't realize he was breathing hard until Greg put a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy Eddie. You had to, he was going to leave." Greg looked at his friend.

Wordy stood, walked to Ed and stopped in front of him. "Come on. We need some coffee. Guys?" He looked to the others. When he got nods all around he nodded and looked down at Ed. When Ed finally stood, he put a hand on his back as they walked away.

Spike blew out a breath as Leah sat down next to him.

"So what about Sherry?" Leah leaned forward and looked at Spike, Jules and Greg.

"She's going to be ok. They're keeping her for a little while. She needed 30 stitches in her left arm and her right wrist was badly broken so they took her to surgery." Greg answered.

"What the hell happened in there?" Jules asked briskly. She was angry and knew she shouldn't take it out on Leah, but she was the closest target. She understood why Sam refused to stay in the hospital, but it still made her mad. He was obviously not in any shape to be going anywhere. Why did he have to make Ed order him to stay? And why the hell did he have to go with the woman in the first place? It was too dangerous! The bomb could've gone off or who knows what, dammit!

"Jules, we'll talk about it in debrief." Greg said as a warning.

Leah looked at Greg. "She saved Sam." Her gaze flicked to Jules. "She cut her own arm and let it bleed on Sam so that it would look like she stabbed him."

"She did!" Spike frowned. "I saw the knife!"

"No. I saw Sam put the knife through his vest, but he only did that to make it look real. He wasn't supposed to be hurt by it, it was an accident it ended up cutting him. And it was an accident that he hit his head. He was trying to make it all look good for the subject, believable. Obviously it worked." Leah explained.

"Are you sure Leah?" Ed asked and he and Wordy returned with the coffee.

"Yes. That's exactly what I told Stainton. Plus they have it on video. The subject had a camera in the warehouse." Leah nodded.

##### SRU HQ, briefing room 2 days later #####

"How's the head Sam?" Ed asked as Sam sat down at the table in his usual spot between Jules and Spike.

Spike put a hand on Sam's shoulder and looked at him with concern.

"Headache is hanging on, but I'm good." Sam nodded slightly.

Ed cocked a brow at Sam. He hadn't expected that much honesty. Sam was good at downplaying, even hiding, injuries but he could tell that was the truth. "And the side?"

"It's fine." Sam sipped his iced capp and shrugged which pulled on the stitches a little, but he hid the wince.

"Uh huh. You're in the truck until you get your stitches out in three days. Doctor's orders." Ed kept his face passive.

"What? Come on!" Sam glared at Ed and put his iced capp on the table.

"You wanna go for a week?" Ed gave him an ice cold stare.

"Fine." Sam grumbled and sat back in his chair a little too hard causing him to wince. He looked at Ed and looked away quickly at the 'told you so' look in the TL's eyes.

"So, I talked to Stainton yesterday. He said they aren't charging Sherry. Davidson confessed to putting the bomb on her and making her rob the bank and attack Sam." Greg watched Sam.

"Good." Sam nodded, looking at the table. "She sacrificed herself to save me." It still amazed him that a complete stranger would do that for him. It was usually the other way around. The irony was not lost on him.

"Deep down she's a good person, she just lost her way a little." Jules put a hand on Sam's other shoulder. She was glad that the Boss had pulled her aside in the waiting room and talked to her. She was very short with Leah and had apologized after. Luckily Leah didn't let much bother her and had understood. She also had a talk with Sam last night on the phone about his risk taking. She'd actually spent most of it yelling at him, but he'd placated her by saying he would be more careful. She knew it was a line, it was Sam's nature to put others before himself, but she'd let it slide.

"Hopefully now she'll find it again." Sam looked at Jules and gave her a small smile.

AN: Ok. There it is. What did you think? Honest reviews are appreciated! Trust me, I know I'm not perfect!


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